FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – The Planning Board has denied a variance that Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. sought during a 10-year attempt to build a restaurant on Route 537 in the Freehold Marketplace shopping center (Walmart).
On Nov. 9, board members voted 5-2 on a resolution denying the application. Board Chairman Rich Gatto and board members Rob Kash, Robert Shortmeyer, Kevin Asadi and Jason Levy voted yes on the denial. Board members Leon Bruno Jr. and John Bazzurro voted no on the denial.
A restaurant is a conditionally permitted use in the Village Center zone. An Olive Garden restaurant and a Longhorn Steakhouse restaurant are adjacent to the property where the Cracker Barrel was proposed.
During hearings on the application, one significant point of discussion between board members and representatives of the applicant was the design of the Cracker Barrel restaurant.
Freehold Township’s land use ordinance states that “the design elements including facade and materials, fenestration (doors and windows), color, texture and other design considerations shall be consistent with traditional architectural styles including Colonial, Federal, Georgian and Victorian traditionally found in Freehold Township.”
The applicant’s representatives described the restaurant’s appearance as “rustic” and compared it to the existing Moore’s Inn at the corner of Route 537 and Stillwells Corner Road and the former Smithburg general store at the corner of Route 537 and Siloam Road.
During a meeting on Oct. 19, planner John Madden, testifying on behalf of Cracker Barrel, said, “We think we have many attributes of Colonial architecture … we are not what you (board members) conceive in your mind as Colonial … Cracker Barrel has many of the elements of Colonial design. This is their brand. This is the way they want to be recognized.”
Madden said he did not believe granting the design variance would impair the township’s zoning ordinance.
“Cracker Barrel is saying, ‘This design is us. Take it or leave it,” Gatto said.
“We are more Colonial in appearance than Olive Garden or Longhorn Steakhouse,” Madden responded.
“If Cracker Barrel went to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, is this design what they would propose?” Gatto asked.
“I don’t know,” Madden said.
Regarding the two neighboring restaurants, the board’s planner, Paul Phillips, said each application that comes before the board stands on its own merits. He noted that the Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse, between 6,000 and 7,000 square feet, are smaller than the proposed Cracker Barrel (10,000 square feet).
Madden testified that Freehold Township’s architect did not take issue with the building’s design or the materials that would be used.
Attorney Kevin Moore, representing the applicant, said while a municipal ordinance requires a Colonial design, the law does not define what that design is.
Moore concluded his presentation on Oct. 19 by saying, “This is a very good application for the township. It is an attractive building and it meets the drainage and utility requirements. We have complied with memos issued by the board’s professionals. I believe for those reasons, it is a definite benefit to the township.”
During comments by board members that evening, Gatto noted what he called the building’s “western” appearance and said he did not like the “take it or leave it” presentation.
“That is not what Freehold Township is about,” he said.
Asadi said he had concerns about vehicle access to the site and the size of the Cracker Barrel, which would also contain a small general store.
Bruno expressed a different view and said, “There is a lot of excitement about Cracker Barrel. This is a little different from what we have in Freehold Township. None of us are experts to decide if a restaurant is too big. There is no liquor license here.
“I think it would be beneficial to the township to have something like (Cracker Barrel). The Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse are not Colonial. It would be a benefit to the township to have a different type of restaurant. The traffic on Route 537 is horrendous, but (Cracker Barrel) will not make it worse,” Bruno said.
In the resolution denying the application, the board found that “the architectural design presented by the applicant does not include any element of facade, materials, fenestration, color, texture or design elements which are consistent with Colonial, Federal, Georgian and Victorian architecture.
“The board finds that the appearance of the proposed building is markedly Western in motif. … The proposed building is substantially oversized for this area of the lot, which when coupled with its nontraditional appearance … renders the site unsuitable for the proposed use …”
Variances related to setbacks in specific areas of the property were also sought by the applicant. Madden said he did not believe granting those setback variances would impair the zoning. The board, in its resolution of denial, did not agree with the planner and denied the setback deviations.
The board also found that signs proposed by Cracker Barrel “will produce an undesirable visual environment and will result in a substantial impairment of the intent and purpose of the (township’s) zone plan and zoning ordinance.”